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Nocturnal Deer

Do deer actually turn nocturnal or do they simply change direction?

Each year during deer season there is a time, usually mid October were the deer appear to not be moving. A lot of hunters believe deer become true creatures of the night and become nocturnal during this per rut period. This so called October lull is however nothing but perception of what is occurring.Research by biologist Mark Connor shows that GPS tagged deer during this time showed not significant modification in their movement. Instead it suggests that hunting pressure alters deer movement. I’ve witnessed this personally when a hot spot of mine went cold one season.One evening I sat back at this now cold stand that hadn’t had any recent action while a friend moved 30 yards west and used a climber. That evening, while I again saw no deer my friend in the climber not only spotted two that had been frequenting the area but they walked right underneath him. To me anyway, this is evidence that the deer weren’t nocturnal, and didn’t leave the area, but instead simply shifted their trail by 30 yards.

So next October when you hit this so called lull make a move or scout out a new trail to find your quarry.